บท 149: [149] Cradle of the Gods (VI)
[5300 words]
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The chaos of God Valley continued. With every passing day, the world became disorderly, ringing alarms through the seas.
The first day, February 1st, was slowly meeting its end; the sun had long bid farewell and allowed night to arrive.
BOOM!
A 20-foot-tall Wendigo was thrown a dozen steps back; its right arm pounded red.
"Dammit, his Armament is even higher than the Boss'!" Solomon remarked, gnashing his teeth from the throbbing of his dominant arm.
The cow-skulled beast huffed an annoyed breath, its rotten eyes looking to the sides and seeing its two companions.
"Kaen, Hensō. Look alive! It's only the first day!"
The envy-faced mask user returned a quick nod, raising both arms.
*Crackle* With a growl, his limbs exploded with blue lightning, conveying his glare of avarice.
Meanwhile, Kaen snapped his fingers, spawning two fireballs in both palms.
The three of them faced down the slowly walking marine. With his short purple hair, metal arm, and burly body, he was a walking tank.
"You do realize your body will grow immune to those stamina shots you keep pumping yourselves with," Zephyr remarked, his eyes narrowing at the trio.
"Kuhuhu!" Solomon howled, but his laugh was broken and distorted past the eeriness of his fruit form. "Worry 'bout yourself, Black Arm! Plus, aren't you purposefully going easy on us so you don't have to save those pigs with your own hands?"
The Admiral Candidate froze in his steps.
A breeze of hesitation whirled around his muscular frame but was quickly replaced with firmness. "I have no idea what you speak of, pirate."
Solomon grinned, his skull-head stretching in frightening ways. "It's okay. The Boss told me the day you still regret…"
Zephyr's fists clenched hard as he heard the enemy's reference to the stain in his heart: "...Naufragium Island."
Kaen raised an eyebrow, recalling a previous headline: "Oh, yeah! Weren't you the guy who led the Buster Call to sink that island? The one that built the Titanic?"
The reminders forced the burly man to look to the floor with shame. He remembered the face of the hulking Quentin Hammer.
And before he knew it, the black fog hissing from Solomon had already surrounded him…
"Follow behind me like the loyal dog you are. Hehe, that's right. With the mighty Marine Supernova by my side, no one will stop me from building a ship fit for a God!"
"What!? What do you mean you won't do it?"
"Like I said, Saint Equínox. Naufragium Island won't do as you ask…but I can direct you to a more luxurious shipbuilder instead."
"You damn brute! How dare you refuse a God! Cipher Pol…enslave this brute's son for me, hehe, now you'll know the price of disrespecting a Celestial Dragon! Your entire island will have my fury!"
The mighty marine grunted, his hand cupping his aching head. The memory of his first significant mission going awry. Hammer's refusal led to an Island Bounty, and the next day, Naufragium was in ruins with all but a few survivors.
Twenty years later, Zephyr was tasked to obliterate Hammer's home…
"Hammer, it seems you've made your choice."
"Hamu-Hamu-Hamu! Zephyr, you're a good guy amongst the top dogs of the Marines. You helped many of our residents out before the bounty hunters arrived; you don't owe me anything."
With a reluctant sigh, the Black Arm raised his head, his sharp eyes cutting through the nefarious mist like a blade.
His gaze fell on the enormous Titanic. Although it was a shell of its former self due to the abuse, it remained true to its name.
"Was that ship worth it?"
"That ship will be the spark that will light the fire that will burn the World Government down!"
BOOM!
Crimson energy burst out from the oppressive marine, his eyes locking onto the grinning Solomon.
"I hope you three can remain standing for the next few days. It'll spare further shame on my Justice."
…
By the second day, things had gotten redundant. Battles continued while time slipped by. The sun rose and arrived at its peak, sighing at the lakes of blood and piles of corpses.
The stench of slaughter had long made itself known. A school of Sea Kings had also arrived under the shrieking island—so much death leaking into the shores was food for them!
Before anyone knew it, two days had already passed…
Clang!
Think metal of famed blades quivered under the brutal assault they faced.
Each shiny blade reflected the smirks of their opponents. Both men had similar golden hair, but the dual-wielding Shiki seemed far more relaxed than Rayleigh.
"Good grief. You are relentless!"
With a roar of great strength, the Dark King tore through the twin blades, sending the Golden Lion ten meters back.
"Jihahaha! I hope your friend gets up soon. You can't hold me down alone, Rayleigh!"
Shiki slashed his swords hundreds of times with a proud Haki roar, mixing in his fruit powers.
Grim reality flashed through Rayleigh's eyes—a vision of the future. He saw the Golden Lion holding the blade attacks in thin air, only to send them out together in the thousands.
"Cheh, he's relying on endless attacks to overwhelm the future I see."
Shiki heard his adversary's conclusion, cackling at its authenticity. "Why don't you ever try not spoiling the fun with that Future Sight of yours."
Rayleigh scoffed. He wrapped his blade with dense Haki in preparation to defend. "I'm afraid I will never reach the same level of admiration as you have for your Captain…"
"Jihahaha! Then I'll just sharpen my Haki against yours until I can Kill the Future!!!"
BOOOOM!
…
A burst of silver and gold lit up the ashy skies of God Valley. The tremors ran through the land, even reaching the battle at the core.
Lava bubbled at the surface, popping with heat and smoke—a dull haze of despair had come to welcome the third day of the duel between Rocks and Garp & Roger.
"Xahaha! Looks like Shiki is lighting this place up."
Roger spat out a wad of blood, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his coat. "Wahahaha! It'll take more to bring down my Partner and Gaban!"
His eyes narrowed at the bloodied figure of Rocks. The man had been through hell and back in the past few days.
"Just like him, you're draining your Haki twice as fast battling two enemies."
Garp hummed at Roger's words, raising his bruised fist. He hid his frustration with the team-up and slowly spoke, "You should drop dead now, Xebec. Every day this war continues, more and more innocents are thrown into panic."
"You disgust me with your stubbornness to save them, Garp!" Rocks' roar fuelled his seemingly endless spirit. However, under the sharp eyes of his opponents, the bursting Haki had thinned.
Garp appeared before the Abyssal Sin in a white streak, landing a lava-orange fist into the man's liver.
The Vice Admiral's thunderous eyes were unbecoming of his usual lax spirit. He glared straight into Rocks' dark pupils and boomed, "Just fall dead already, Xebec!!!"
…
The third day and third night came and went—it was the fourth day already.
Rays of orange pierced the thick cloud of ash over God Valley, shedding some warmth to every corner of the damned island.
But the peaceful setting didn't last…
BOOOM!
The air itself exploded into giant shards of glass, birthing a colossal wave of shock that rang the Cradle of the Gods to its roots!
Five miserable cries broke out, each from an exalted God's Knight.
"Edward Newgate! How dare you strike down a Sentinel of Mariejois!"
The white-mustached pirate showed his disdain as his giant foot slammed into the fresh corpse of a Knight. He glared down at Garling while crunching the enemy with his boot.
The problem was that the Knight who fell was actually a Celestial Dragon, much like Garling! The same was true for all the figures surrounding the world shaker.
"Gurarara! You point your fancy swords at me and think I won't break you in half?" he questioned with a grin fit for a pirate.
Whitebeard was in a festive mood. His qualms with sailing alongside a fleet of scum had settled for every Saint he killed.
The spanning Murakumogiri was raised in the air, bubbling with white energy. And with a violent roar, Newgate tore open space itself, summoning a flurry of natural disasters onto the dozens of knights.
Garling gnashed his teeth, hopping around the collapsing earth, dodging the ravine being born.
"This Sacred Land in such disarray…it's a sin worthy of a thousand deaths!!!"
…
The fifth day went by just as fast. The Marines had impressively switched between a reserve force and an active force every passing day, fifty thousand at a time.
They stayed on the shores, tackling the eight thousand pirates that remained. It was slow, tedious, and tiring, but the enemy numbers were falling fast!
And finally, one fateful evening, a significant change occurred at God Valley's center.
Moments ago, the battlefield quaked under the roar of a mighty pirate, Gol D. Roger…
.
"God's Demise!"
.
BOOOOOM!
The blade roared through the air like the scream of a god. A brilliant, blinding arc of energy erupted from the sword, shimmering with the golden light of Roger's Conqueror's Haki. The ground beneath his feet cracked and shattered, unable to bear the weight of the unleashed force.
The slash tore through the air, its edges rippling with black lightning. The energy wave shot forward from the center of God Valley, cutting through the earth like a divine judgment. It cleaved the massive mountains of God Valley as though they were made of parchment, their towering peaks crumbling under the sheer might of the slash.
CRASH!
The mountains split apart, sending colossal chunks of rock tumbling into the sea, and the very island seemed to groan under the weight of Roger's power. The slash did not stop there—no, it surged forward, cutting through the clouds above, its radiant energy carving a path through the sky.
Roger's legs recoiled into a crouch as he fell from above, his eyes glued to the hell he had just unleashed.
Then it came, a very audible thump of flesh hitting the barren earth…
An arm.
"..."
Roger's firm eyes wavered as he heard a burst of laughter: "Xahahahahahaha!"
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
The dust clouds were withered aside to welcome the evil presence of death itself.
The gloom behind his footsteps was as loud as the dripping blood splattering on the floor. A track of dull steps alongside a trail of endless blood.
"It's really a pity you weren't born a decade ago, Roger." Rocks' stroll softened; his disappointing voice seemed to ignore the pain of having your right arm cut off.
Xebec turned toward a crater not too far away, embedding into the remaining mountain of God Valley.
"That mad dog Garp actually took the full brunt of my attack to give you an open shot… Xahahaha! He trusts you with his life!"
"And I have no intention of failing him," Roger quaintly declared, cladding his Ace with Haki most could only dream of.
"Now, you better protect him until he gets up again, or it'll ruin our little dance!"
With his left arm severed and his body battered, Rocks D. Xebec charged forward like a crazed beast, blood and death clinging to his aura. His eyes, burning with sheer malice, glowed with the fury of a man who refused to fall, his face twisted into a snarl of hatred and raw desire for destruction.
Every step sent tremors through the ground as he lunged at the lonesome Roger, intent on tearing him apart with whatever strength he had left.
[A/N: God's Demise and Divine Departure are different attacks in the fanfic. I just couldn't be bothered to think up more ability names.]
…
The Cradle of the Gods became a shell of its former self by the time the seventh day came to an end.
The once mountainous terrain had been chipped and hammered into a flat plain of wasted rock and debris. The holiness that pervaded its woods had been replaced with carnage and massacre; every few steps lay a body, a few dozen, and you would run into a river of blood.
"When I first stepped on this island, I felt an excess of life. A life that goes beyond what is natural…" a young man commented, his senses stretching across the land.
His hand held up a fistful of dirt. Before, it was incredibly fertile and filled with nutrients; now, it had turned red from the endless blood that seeped in, robbing it of its life.
"Although the home of the people who would bring great pain to the seas, you have to admit they picked a nice island to be their Cradle, don't you think so, Sengoku?"
The young man speaking was naturally Damien the Undying. His bruised and blistered skin did little to hide the snarkiness in his tone.
"Hmph, is that your attempt to make me feel ashamed?" Sengoku questioned. The Admiral remained in his Buddha form, dwarfing the Sin Incarnate. Unfortunately, the clash throughout the days had left him with patches in his afro.
He glared at the tattered pirate, seeing blotches of dried blood and purple bruises lining his torso.
"The Celestial Dragons, although with a history of causing pain for entire civilizations, are the controllers of the World Government." The Buddha crossed its arms, showing no shame: "I lack the power to change that, so I must do what I can to limit the pain they cause."
Damien hummed as he retrieved Ryushi which had been embedded into the ground from a recent collision.
With a tremor, he shot ahead with a crimson glow all over, stabbing the Supreme Blade at the marine.
.
"Impact Wave!"
.
The pulsating energy washed the lifeless region with golden heat, shoving entire hills from the shockwaves produced.
"So you accept that this world, under their rule, is forever stuck with inequality," Damien asked, his left arm holding Ryushi, still pushing against the drumming energy.
The Admiral's eyes narrowed in momentary thought. There was a flash of ambition in the man's eyes, but it disappeared quickly. "That is how it is!"
Sengoku felt a pang of anger in his own words as he doubled the output of his ability.
BOOOM!
The Sin Incarnate was shot back, his body ringing like a bell from the mix of Emission, Infusion and shockwaves.
'Not only did he adapt to my Observation, but he's also concentrating his shockwaves with Haki to find ways around my thick skin,' Damien annoyingly thought, his feet digging into the soil to a stop.
At the same time, he pulled up the stats he had personally been hit with for the past seven days.
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
[Sengoku]
[Age: 40 years, 8 months, 29 days]
[Height: 9' 1"] (2.78 m)
[Devil Fruit: Mythical Model Buddha (Grandmastery (I))]
[Fruit Rating: 6.5 Stars]
[Skills: Beacon of Justice, Rokushiki, Resourceful General, Exalted Emission]
[Haki: Intermediate Mastery of Observation Haki, Grandmastery (I) of Armament Haki, Grandmastery (I) of Conqueror's Haki]
[Strength: Top Tier Yonko]
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[Beacon of Justice: Release strands of Haki that raise the spirits of the user's subordinates.]
[Resourceful General: See through enemy strategies; make the best out of the worst situation.]
[Exalted Emission: Perfect harmony between Emission Haki, Infusion Haki and Buddha's shockwaves.]
>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<
Sengoku stood tall, his eyes firm. Damien matched his demeanour with Ryushi in hand.
"The Navy's mission is to maintain the authority of the World Government. Even if the Celestial Dragons bring suffering to some, their wealth and resources are the only things that stand in the way of anarchy that pirates beget!"
The standoff was on the brink of collapsing before an island-shaking rumble resounded.
Their eyes shot across the regions where other duels were taking place to reach the core.
BOOOM!
Three spanning bubbles of pure Haki—black, red and orange—turned midnight into dawn!
Damien felt the waves of Haki drilling into his skin like pins and needles. "Those three… But the black Haki, it's shrinking!"
The wrinkles over Sengoku's golden visage eased as he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Looks like Rocks has finally reached his end. I thought it would never happen." The Buddha shook his head in memory of the past week.
He suddenly turned to Damien: "You ought to be satisfied by this, too."
The pirate's brows furrowed. "Whatever do you mean?" His voice was both curious and snarky, bringing a frown to the marine's face.
"Please. Do you think I'll buy both Zephyr and Basara just barely surviving with the skin of their teeth after their battle with you?" Sengoku scoffed, spitting out his findings, "You want Xebec dead as much as we do."
"..." Damien narrowed his eyes at the towering enemy. He surveilled the confident expression, the unshaken eyes.
"Rahaha! As expected of the Resourceful General," he smilingly admitted, no longer putting up a front. "But I'm not going to lower myself to stab Rocks in the back; his failure today will be from his own weakness."
There were still doubts in the Admiral's heart. 'What does he hope to achieve from Xebec's death?'
It only gave Sengoku more reasons to take the young pirate down once and for all.
"Much like your Captain, I will ensure your death or capture! Your subordinate's energy drugs are already waning away; let's see if you can outlast Rocks!!!"
With a thunderous roar, the giant Buddha exploded from his position, covering dozens of meters in a fraction of a second.
His gaze through the unbreakable glasses was relentless—the annihilation of the Rocks Pirates was as crucial as the death of their captain.
…
While the Beacon of Justice was picking up the pace against the man of atoms, a more pivotal stage was playing out at God Valley's heart, one of a battle that had lasted seven days and seven nights.
...
"Even you can't go on forever, Rocks."
It was a scene of deja vu: Rocks stood tall in front of the Garp and Roger duo. Bated breathing echoed the corroded lands, and the three clawed onto life.
The one-armed man breathed hard. Every breath he took was like a low growl from the six-inch long and half-as-wide gash across his throat.
"Xahahahaha!" The laugh alone was grizzly and broken, with little care for the plethora of injuries. It came alongside crimson spit dribbling down his cracked and shattered jaw. Each infernal breath expanded his torn-up chest, with a few ribs peeking out.
"A full week. He really is a monster," Garp muttered, breathing just as heavily. The marine was tattered as well; cracked knuckles and broken arm bones, deep wounds which sizzled with black smoke.
His make-shift partner, Roger, also stood tall. "Every journey has an end. This is yours, Rocks." The pirate was bloodied up—cuts and broken bones, about the same as Garp.
.
Xebec's grinning face froze as his hand reached to his chest.
The drumming heartbeat was still there but unstable, low and quiet. Even with his might, the man couldn't hold up against a combined team of Garp and Roger for so long.
"You two both belong to the D," he roared. "Why get in my way?"
"If I let you leave here alive, then it'll throw the world into bloodshed. I won't allow that!" Garp responded with equal enthusiasm.
Yet his words earned a sneer from Rocks: "You're willing to do as the Celestial Dragons tell you? Garp, you've become their dog!"
The marine scoffed, his body bursting with burning Haki. "As long as you die, the pirates will fall apart, and the Navy can usher in a time of peace; that is enough for me!"
Roger found the argument quite intriguing. He threw aside his ripped coat and laughed, "Wahahahaha! Although I've decided to end my pirate adventure, I can't just walk away knowing a man like you will dominate the New World; you're getting in the way of people's dreams!"
"Their dreams?" Xebec echoed in frustration. Just the thought of the word "dream" brought deep anger to his face.
He gnashed his teeth so hard that bits of white fell, followed by blood. A growl leaked through maw, alongside hate-ridden words: "This damning world has been screaming in my head since I was a boy. Do you think I didn't have 'dreams?' Do you think I didn't want to leave behind a legacy?"
Every word deepened his fury. His chest convulsed with the abuse of his organs. "This world, its false veil… It cursed me young. The Sworn Enemy of the Gods? All three of us are damned to live in this fake world! The two of you relent to it… but I refuse!"
Bubbling black Haki pulsed out with every syllable, cutting apart the skies as if to enrage the heavens. "The screams damn my existence, so I'll beat it into submission and sit on its throne! It is my destiny!!!"
The duo quieted down under the blasphemous words.
Roger sighed, shaking his head. "You have become everything the World Government was centuries ago. No matter the blood to be shed, you won't stop until either they fall or you do."
Garp slowly nodded. He felt something profound within—being in the Marines with the middle initial "D" had long shown him the true colours of those on top.
"It's an endless cycle… Pirates rise and fall while the Government does everything possible to uphold balance."
He grabbed his forehead, sighing through the gaps of his fingers. "But no one gives a damn about the innocent people, their lives." His eyes sharpened, and his words grew resolute: "Which is all the more reason for me to take you down, Rocks! With your death comes peace!"
Boom!
The duo continued their assault, raging on ahead.
Clang!
Mokushiroku and Ace collided hard, releasing powerful torrents and unimaginable tremors. The powerful Haki was strong enough to leave scars along God Valley.
.
"Galaxy Impact!"
.
The overpowering fist fell onto Xebec's shoulders, slowly craving him into the ground.
He struggled with holding both the sword and fist, but he managed. Roger gnashed his teeth and bashed his skull to the enemy's forehead.
Rocks faltered momentarily, allowing Roger to slash his sword without mercy.
.
"God's Demise!"
.
It was a simple horizontal slash, but the energy and Haki it unleashed could cut up entire mountains.
Boom!
Rocks slashed his blade at the last second, willing the strength of titans to hold back the attack.
He felt his own life escaping his hands—it earned his ire.
"Guawhh!" The evil pirate roared a guttural cry, summoning strength beyond what a man should have. The veins along his only arms popped with black blood, and the cracked skin tore open, with the elbow popping straight out from the back. But it was enough to send Roger flying, skipping across the ground like a stone across a river.
Thud!
Garp landed, taking Roger's place and began raining in fists.
The Vice Admiral effortlessly ducked under a savage kick and landed a titanic punch to the liver.
Boom!
Rocks coughed out the air in his lungs. The pain only doubled as Garp's left fist hooked across and caved the pirate's cheekbones into his throat.
Bam!
Then came the right fist, arcing up from below and delivering an uppercut without mercy.
Bang!
Each fist broke the sound barrier, wrapped in thick Haki. It was lava-orange in colour, glowing with a red hue and crackling with black lightning.
Boom!
Bam!
The deathly energy was quickly pushed back with the Haki. Garp's brute strength shoved Xebec into the ground, his boots digging deeper and deeper into the earth.
Spanning cracks opened, slowly birthing a ravine where Tnaryt's Castle once stood.
'His Haki is ignoring my defenses!' Rocks grumbled. If there was one man alive who continuously impressed the Abyssal Sin with his Armament Haki, it was Garp.
"!!!" The evil pirate was knee-deep into the earth when he felt a sharp burst of energy screeching toward him from a kilometer away. He ignored the punch to his stomach and opened his broken jaw toward the coming attack.
.
"Infernal Ward."
.
In a stream of black energy, Rocks breathed a black shield to life!
*Grrr!* The slash was forced to a stop momentarily while the Vice Admiral continued his assault. He had focussed his senses at the buzzing strike…
'Now!' Garp's right arm locked around Xebec's wrist and yanked as hard as he could. Meanwhile, Roger's ranged attack ripped through the black wall and rushed ahead.
*Swish!*
Xebec's eyes widened as the pain came instantly.
*Sphhhh* The blood exploded out like a geyser, followed by the sound of a piece of rotten flesh landing far away.
Garp narrowed his eyes, blessing his right arm with intense Haki. Veins popped alongside his bruised arm as he brought down a mountain-shattering assault at the Abyssal Sin's core.
.
"Galaxy Divide!"
.
"Guuhh!" The pirate was sent soaring across God Valley, soon being nailed into a newly-formed mountain through Whitebeard's quakes.
Boom!
The landmass collapsed, exploding into bits.
"…"
Roger and Garp watched, trying to stabilize their breathing.
"Gruahh!" It was like a broken record; Rocks just kept getting back up. Xebec's roar came with a tornado of black winds whirling into the crater he was in.
The duo watched as they saw the black energy stretched from the center of God Valley to its coast and returned to Rocks.
"He's siphoning the deaths of the ones on the other side of the island to fuel his power," Roger commented.
Garp grinned, cracking his knuckles together. "Can't let that happen."
.
"Galaxy Nova!"
.
"Wailing Heavens!"
.
The long-range attacks whizzed through the air, colliding with the two streams of death energy.
Like a river being hit with an earthquake, the twin currents of black energy exploded into loose shards and particles, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
"Masters of Haki, what a pain in the ass!"
The broken figure of Rocks slowly emerged from the fallen mountains. His entire body was seething with raging Haki.
Black blood dripped from both his stumps, lacking either arm now. Mokushiroku was sent to god knows where, leaving its master weaponless.
"You two really think just this can take me down!? I cannot be killed!"
Xebec's pupils disappeared, leaving his eyes white. The walking corpse began to release god-like Haki that rippled like electromagnetic rays. Every pulse was that of a heartbeat drumming across the land. Every beat corroded away bits of land, turning them from their ruined shape into nothingness.
Roger narrowed his eyes, seeing nothing but darkness swell around Rocks.
"He has perfectly paired his Conqueror's Haki with his death powers. It really is incredible."
"That's not all…" Garp grunted, feeling the pain in his arms. Even his fists that were Layered in Armament Haki began to ache, his Haki falling apart.
"Armament Killing…" the Vice Admiral muttered.
Not only did his Haki wither away, but the skin underneath followed suit. Liquid flesh and dead skin dripped from Garp's signature fist, but what was underneath left Roger gobsmacked.
"Garp… Your knuckles!" He pointed out, seeing a dark gleam. "They're black!"
The Vice Admiral, a true king of Armament, returned a proud grin. "That little demon Damien likes to sharpen his Haki from his opponents… Why can't I do the same!?"
It was incredible—Garp the Fist had applied a degree of Black Bones to his fists!
With a burst of orange, the marine revitalized his failing Haki, wrapping it in layers. "I feel bad for any fruit user who'd have to go up against Rocks' damnable fruit!"
Roger grinned from the side, flashing defiance to he who personified death. "Unfortunately for him, the two of us don't rely on such things. If anything, it gives us an unquestionable advantage!"
The pirate's grasp on Ace deepened, fueling it with dense Haki. "Let's end this, Garp!"
"Don't tell me what to do!"
On the other hand, Rocks felt a conclusive twist in his story and was naturally opposed. The limbless pirate shot ahead, caring little about his well-being. "Xahahahaha! Let me see if you're worthy of being of the same clan as I!"
Garp took action first, unveiling his incredible Haki as he went to the skies.
.
"Galaxy…"
The air swelled into bits of blue, purple and green, forming the endless marvels of what existed beyond the planet.
With a mighty roar, he wrapped his right hand not once, not twice, but thrice with his Colour of Arms!
.
"…Meteora!"
.
BOOOOOOM!
A single fist. Its range covered half of God Valley.
The blanket of mountainous ruins was instantly turned to dust. The pulsing Haki shoved aside all signs of defense, seeking to sink the island.
Naturally, it engulfed Rocks, forcing him to be embedded into the ground.
"Damn!" he roared, exercising every ounce of his strength to stand up, but Garp's Haki kept coming, streaming out from his fist like powerful tides. They crashed onto Rocks, cutting apart his body.
"I didn't allow you to die!" He cursed his left leg, which had begun to necrose from the lack of blood flow. The black energy granted it life, only for the incoming surge from Garp to eradicate it again.
The man's skin cracked and melted off, leaving him in a skeletal state. Corrupted blood fell from every bit of his body as his own skull was now exposed.
*Lub* *Dub* Xebec's blackened heart was visibly beating, his lungs still pumping air.
The maw widened in denial, releasing its deathly whispers.
*Vvooo* The air whistled as a dark silhouette appeared directly above the pirate. A bright flash went off as Ace was raised above Roger's shoulder, preparing to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, Garp recoiled his right arm, only to redo the exact attack, this time with his left fist.
The ravine grew deeper, longer and broader, with Rocks at its middle.
Watching the climax of an era, Roger couldn't help but utter, "The ocean saw the beginning of the world, and the ocean knows its end…"
His eyes sharpened as Haki flooded across his body, flowing to his blade. The air around Ace was warping and distorting, an effect born from the obscene Conqueror's Haki buzzing within.
"Get swallowed by the sea, Xebec!"
The blade swung forth without mercy.
.
"Divine Divide!"
.
BOOOM! *Rumble!*
The island trembled as a giant gash stretched further. It burst out from the center of God Valley to its edges—the ravine had covered a perfect, straight line through the island, opening up an abyss! A single slash and God Valley had parted in half!
"Gougghh!" broken wails echoed out from the skeletonized Rocks, his bones cracking from the cut.
*Creak* The ground separated with Rocks slowly drilling through the earth. God Valley split in two, with Xebec at the center of the division.
The body shattered, leaving behind a collection of black energy that swirled in denial, unable to voice its fury.
The evil pirate, or what remained of him, was slowly eaten by gravity, pulling him through the parted island and into the sea.
Water, the universal liquid, quickly swallowed the broken skeleton without mercy, pulling it to its deathly embrace. Black bubbles splashed about as the darkness disappeared—Mother Ocean had swallowed every remnant of the Abyssal Sin.
…
God Valley was opened between where its twin peaks once stood, splitting into two landmasses.
What had occurred would go down in history as a day that decided the fate of the eras to come, choosing between an era of pain and suffering and an era of peace and serenity.
After seven days and seven nights, Rocks D. Xebec, the infamous and fearsome pirate that had terrorized the world for decades, had fallen!
[Halved God Valley Image (in Discord)]
To Be Continued…
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Author's Corner.
Aside from the perspectives revealed by Zephyr and Sengoku, there was also of Garp, Roger and Rocks. And finally, Xebec has fallen! Even amongst all the fantastical lands of One Piece, the endless seas dominate the world—I thought it poetic for Rocks, the incarnation of evil, to be swallowed up in by the abyss of Mother Ocean.
Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q
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